The Princess, the Elf, and the Troll

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a Princess, who was in love with an Elf.  Now, the Princess had two friends, a Duchess and a Countess, and each of them had loves as well.  The Duchess was in love with a Man Who Was About To Become A Knight, and the Countess was in love with a Technologist.

Now, the time came for the Elf to leave on a Quest to the province of Arizona.  The Princess was very sad because her wonderful Elf was leaving her to go far away on a Quest, so she gave him a ring and made him promise to come back for her, which he did.

She kissed him goodbye, with tears in her eyes, and prayed that God would grant him a safe journey and bring him home to her soon.

Soon after, the Princess found out that the Countess had to leave to go and survey her lands in the North.  This made the Princess even more sad because one of her closest friends was leaving her.  But she hugged the Countess goodbye and prayed that God would bring her home safely, both to her and to the Countess' Technologist.

Next after this, the Man Who Was About To Become A Knight, who was also a close friend of the Princess, had to leave for his training school.  This made the Princess even more sad because her friends were leaving her very quickly, and she was afraid that she would have no friends left.  But she hugged the Man Who Was About To Become A Knight goodbye and prayed that God would bring him home safely, both to her and to his Duchess.

Now, the Duchess was a very busy woman.  She was taking classes from a Tutor with the Princess, but she also had many other things during the day that she had to do, and she did not have very much time to spend with the Princess.  This made the Princess sad, but she understood that the Duchess had things to do, and they saw each other when they could.

The Technologist, on the other hand, was not a very busy man, and he also studied under the Tutor with the Princess and the Duchess.  But, on the weekends, every so often, he would go up north to visit the Countess at her property, and the Princess would be left alone with no friends to comfort her.

And, oh, how the Princess missed her Elf and wished that he would come home to her.  But she knew that this was not to be, and that he must continue on his Quest to find his place in life.

So, the Princess decided that she needed to make new friends, so she got onto her faithful Horse and went looking for new friends.  Her father did not forbid her to mingle with the commoners, and she found that they were intelligent and refreshing, but they were all too busy to be her friends.

She went further away from the Castle, until she got to a Forest.  The Forest was not dark and scary, like many fairytale forests are, but it was a pretty Forest with many animals and creatures.  The Princess liked the Forest very much and traveled deeper and deeper into it.  As she got farther, the Princess came upon a Cave.

Now, this Cave belonged to a very lonely Troll, who did not have many friends, either.  This Troll did not try and scare away people, but neither did he openly welcome them into his midst. But, the Princess knocked very sweetly on his Cave door, and he opened it for her.

Now, the Troll saw that the Princess was a very open person, and that she liked him, but he was afraid of her, because he was not very used to seeing women in his doorway, especially not a Princess.

But the Princess entered his Cave, and found that the Troll was a very intelligent, kind person, and someone that she would like to consider a friend.  So, she told the Troll all about her friends and her Elf, and he told her about his friends and his life as a lonely Troll.  And after they were done talking, the Princess told him that she would like to come back and see him again, but the Troll was afraid, because he knew that the Princess' Elf might become jealous and try and hurt him when he came home, so he did not want to invite the Princess back.  But the Princess had such a cunning smile, and she was very manipulative, so the Troll told her that they could see each other again.

When the Princess sent the Elf a letter about seeing the Troll, he was angry, because he did not want to lose the love of his Princess to a Troll.  He had lost the love of one of his earlier lovers before, and he was afraid that the Princess would leave him, too.  This scared him more than anything in the world, and he told the Princess that he was angry.

The Princess got angry back at the Elf and accused him of not trusting her, because in her Heart, the Princess loved the Elf more than anything in the world, and she knew that she would never leave him.  This calmed the Elf some, but he was still afraid that the Princess would leave him.  This made the Princess cry because she loved her Elf more than anything, but she did not want to lose the friendship of the Troll either.

The Elf had a wise Companion with him on his Quest, and his Companion told him that the Elf's mistrust of his Princess was only hurting them both, so he should stop being jealous and afraid.  This knocked some sense into the Elf, and he told his Princess that he was sorry.  She apologized, too, and told the Elf that she understood his fear, but she would never leave him.

So, the next day, the Princess went back to visit the Troll.  They talked again, and she found once more that she really liked the Troll and that he would make a good friend, but the Princess did not want to always sit inside the Troll's Cave and talk to him.  She wanted to show him some of her world, because she knew that it was beautiful, and she wanted the Troll to love it as much as she did.

But the Troll was afraid to come out of his Cave because he was comfortable there, and he knew that no one would be able to hurt him if he always stayed inside his Cave.  However, the Princess was adamant that he must come out with her and see the world.  After much convincing, the Troll finally agreed to come with the Princess and see part of her world.

And, as the Troll came out of the Cave, she realized that he was not really a Troll after all, but a Human that had been living alone in his Cave for so long, that he took on the appearance of a Troll.  And the Princess told the Troll that he was truly Human, and that he must come with her and see the world and meet her Elf, the Duchess and her Man Who Was About To Become A Knight and the Countess and her Technologist.  And the Human was afraid that the Princess' friends would not like him, but they did.

No one knows if they all lived happily ever after or not, but it is known that the Princess still loves her Elf with all her heart and is still friends with the Troll Who Is Really Human, and that Ever After is a long time, and they must wait and see what happens.